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[Somnia]

Not really how twitch works.

There will be plenty of viewers come Tuesday. Most major streamers who don't have it right now will still get a ton of viewers on Tuesday with the game.

If you are a smaller streamer, sure you won't get as many not being on the list right now, but you'll still get your normal viewers with a few more potentially due to hype of a new game.

I'm sorry you aren't press or a pro halo player and can't get on the list, but this is how it is. This is no different than when they let the press play games early to review it, etc. except they let the pro gamers in also to build up hype on the game.

edit: I also don't believe you regarding your 343 argument saying you'd let it slide, because you clearly have an agenda in that you want to play and stream the game to get viewers. You'd be whining just as much for another game because you can't get in on the pre-release hype and viewer numbers.

 

[Twilight Gap]

The problem with 343's art style is that it's too gaudy. They're padding their designs with detail for the sake of detail and it rarely looks functional or practical.

The exception is the Forerunner/Promethean stuff. It's overfunctional to the point where everything needs to have some kind of inner-locking mechanism to suggest that its geometry can move. The result is overly complex geometrical noise that can overwhelm and distract the player from what is happening within the environment.

 

[op_ivy]

Why are the warzone bases the same on every map? Strange decision

 

[Glass]

The Warzone maps look stellar. Cannot wait to go fly around in theatre after a game. But yeah for me the Arena maps look way too similar. The different map locations (underwater for Fathom, atop a skyscraper for Empire) are overpowered by the similar looking assets of metal walls, walkways etc. And those locations are mostly apparent if you're looking outside the map. I guess they play differently, but purely from a spectator's point of view there's not much variation.

 

[Twilight Gap]

Why are the warzone bases the same on every map? Strange decision

Probably for consistency so you know where everything is. It'd be good to keep the same layout, but the lack of any kind of palette swap would be jarring.

 

[singhr1]

Yes, if it was any other company I'd let it slide, but I really thought 343 would have been better than this, given their track record on Xbone.

So having other people play it makes you jealous that you can't? They are still letting people review/test the game. Just because you can't means you can't because they haven't authorized everyone to yet doesn't mean you should be complaining about something so small.

343i are clearly confident in the game they have shipped. Beta + giving reviewers almost 2 weeks to play the game is a big difference from MCC which launched servers day of release.

 

[Poodlestrike]

Sure it doesn't have to look like Bungies, but it should at least look like freaking halo, which used to be a grounded universe where things were visually believable for something 500 years in the future and not some awful Tron/Evangelion hybrid. 343 seems to not be inspired by Sci-Fi, but rather Science Fantasy and they seriously need to understand that if they're going to take over a universe with established rules and artistic tone that they can't just throw that in the trash while demanding respect for doing so.

Okay, first things first.

Halo has never looked like it was from 500 years in the future. Ever. It's mil-scifi, so more like 50-100 years, tops. Everything is still largely recognizable.

What 343's been doing is representing the post-war tech boom that always occurs as wartime advances meet peacetime applications and you get a feedback loop that results (for a short while) in drastic advances. It still looks like Halo, just... the Halo of tomorrow (or four days from today). I'll agree that they've made some real missteps artwise, though; H4's armor was largely terrible due to the overly-visible, overly-textured undersuits, but that's been toned down a great deal. It's still not super duper solid and chunky like Bungie's was, but it's not supposed to be.

The only thing that's TRONy is the Forerunner/Promethean look, and honestly I much prefer it.

 

[Captain Zyrain]

Okay, first things first.

Halo has never looked like it was from 500 years in the future. Ever. It's mil-scifi, so more like 50-100 years, tops. Everything is still largely recognizable.

What 343's been doing is representing the post-war tech boom that always occurs as wartime advances meet peacetime applications and you get a feedback loop that results (for a short while) in drastic advances. It still looks like Halo, just... the Halo of tomorrow (or four days from today). I'll agree that they've made some real missteps artwise, though; H4's armor was largely terrible due to the overly-visible, overly-textured undersuits, but that's been toned down a great deal. It's still not super duper solid and chunky like Bungie's was, but it's not supposed to be.

The only thing that's TRONy is the Forerunner/Promethean look, and honestly I much prefer it.

So much of this.

Humanity (and likely Covenant) are integrating so much Forerunner tech into their own that things are bound to change/be upgraded. Without having to fight each other (directly) R&D is going wild. Both sides are probably figuring another conflict is just around the corner as well.. so it's a race to improve.

 

[op_ivy]

Probably for consistency so you know where everything is. It'd be good to keep the same layout, but the lack of any kind of palette swap would be jarring.

Eh, learn the map?

 

[natethegreat409]

Super lame. I get most of my games a few days early and this is the first time I've been limited in what I can do with my own copy. Very disappointed 343.

I wish they had released it this week too.

I never understand why people get so worked up over how a map looks. If the map plays well is all that really matters. Most of my favorite maps in the history of FPS's are bland and nothing to look at, but fun as hell to play on.

Just my 2 cents though. Everyone has their thing they like and dislike.

 

[Willectro]

There will be plenty of viewers come Tuesday. Most major streamers who don't have it right now will still get a ton of viewers on Tuesday with the game.

If you are a smaller streamer, sure you won't get as many not being on the list right now, but you'll still get your normal viewers with a few more potentially due to hype of a new game.

I'm sorry you aren't press or a pro halo player and can't get on the list, but this is how it is. This is no different than when they let the press play games early to review it, etc. except they let the pro gamers in also to build up hype on the game.

edit: I also don't believe you regarding your 343 argument saying you'd let it slide, because you clearly have an agenda in that you want to play and stream the game to get viewers. You'd be whining just as much for another game because you can't get in on the pre-release hype and viewer numbers.

No (or few) other console devs do this shit.

 

[AllIsOneIsNone]

The only thing that's TRONy is the Forerunner/Promethean look, and honestly I much prefer it.

This is why I like you, you got taste, kid.

 

[ArchedThunder]

So much of this.

Humanity (and likely Covenant) are integrating so much Forerunner tech into their own that things are bound to change/be upgraded. Without having to fight each other (directly) R&D is going wild. Both sides are probably figuring another conflict is just around the corner as well.. so it's a race to improve.

A tech boom shouldn't make everything look over-designed and noisy, especially cities that have existed long before the Human-Covenant war ended.

 

[VincentMatts]

It won't let you in period if you're online, if you're offline you can get on and play the campaign.



Empire and Eden are remixes, so of course they look pretty similar, but even then... Eden's got the night theme. And Fathom is underwater. Not sure how you could think that's part of the same map.

Same assets being used everywhere. Im not playing on the outside of the maps, im playing inside them. Whether there's water or night time outside doesn't change the fact that the insides look the same.

 

[Twilight Gap]

Eh, learn the map?

It's a big fucking map, but hey I don't make the rules.

 

[Willectro]

So having other people play it makes you jealous that you can't? They are still letting people review/test the game. Just because you can't means you can't because they haven't authorized everyone to yet doesn't mean you should be complaining about something so small.

343i are clearly confident in the game they have shipped. Beta + giving reviewers almost 2 weeks to play the game is a big difference from MCC which launched servers day of release.

I got early delivery and was excited to play, not really jealous.

It's maddening that a company who could barely get their previous game working would put effort into this type of measure.

 

[PetulantChild]

Okay, first things first.

Halo has never looked like it was from 500 years in the future. Ever. It's mil-scifi, so more like 50-100 years, tops. Everything is still largely recognizable.

What 343's been doing is representing the post-war tech boom that always occurs as wartime advances meet peacetime applications and you get a feedback loop that results (for a short while) in drastic advances. It still looks like Halo, just... the Halo of tomorrow (or four days from today). I'll agree that they've made some real missteps artwise, though; H4's armor was largely terrible due to the overly-visible, overly-textured undersuits, but that's been toned down a great deal. It's still not super duper solid and chunky like Bungie's was, but it's not supposed to be.

The only thing that's TRONy is the Forerunner/Promethean look, and honestly I much prefer it.

Exactly why would a post war tech boom make the BR have a hideously curved sight and Jaundice yellow ammo counter, or the pelican look completely different with no added functionality, the shotgun look like a generic pile of crap, Chiefs same suit of armor from Halo 3 have a basketball skin undersuit, or the rocket launcher become even less advanced and look like a generic green tube that we have available in our militaries right now? There seems to be no practical use for any of these changes at all, they seem to be changed only because the 343 artists couldn't just swallow their damned pride. Also, in regards to the Halo universe never looking 500 years into the future. That's exactly my freaking point, 343 has taken away the bulky Starship Troopers/classic sci-ci inspired power armor design and replaced it with overdesigned Anime/Kamen Rider shite.

 

[mcrommert]

Super lame. I get most of my games a few days early and this is the first time I've been limited in what I can do with my own copy. Very disappointed 343.

Translation

"I almost always can find someone to break street date for me and this is the first time a company has had the injustice to not serve me at the time of my choosing. Very disappointed 343"

 

[AHappyPanda]

Watching some of the streamers on Twitch.tv and they're in Diamond rank......and they look like utter garbage.

 

[Eric WK]

No (or few) other console devs do this shit.

Exactly. I can't think of a single precedent for this.

I don't even have the damn game, but I don't understand people going out of their way to defend 343 when they could really use the goodwill.

 

[Twilight Gap]

Empire and Eden are remixes, so of course they look pretty similar, but even then... Eden's got the night theme. And Fathom is underwater. Not sure how you could think that's part of the same map.

The skybox is underwater. The geometry on the layout shares similar assets to the rest of the game's UNSC/Human locations.

Look. 5 Human/UNSC structures in 5 different locations - 5 distinct design palettes with almost no assets shared between them.

[imghttp://www.hectormadrigal.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/halo_reach_map_boardwalk2.jpg][/img]

Isn't rocket science (well, maybe the last one is...)

Now look at Halo 5

Really, the only thing that is changing is the lighting.

 

[Poodlestrike]

A tech boom shouldn't make everything look over-designed and noisy, especially cities that have existed long before the Human-Covenant war ended.

Which cities are you referring to? New Mombasa looks like a lower-detail Plaza (and that's a pretty old town), and I can't really recall any other pre-343 cities.

In fact, I can only really point to Skyline as a non-prefab human structure post 343, off the top of my head. That's going to change in 5, obviously.

Same assets being used everywhere. Im not playing on the outside of the maps, im playing inside them. Whether there's water or night time outside doesn't change the fact that the insides look the same.

Eh. Did you play the beta? Because after spending some time on Eden and Empire, I could never confuse one for the other, or either for Fathom.

 

[Willectro]

Translation

"I almost always can find someone to break street date for me and this is the first time a company has had the injustice to not serve me at the time of my choosing. Very disappointed 343"

Translation translation: I've never received a game early and am salty.

Exactly. I can't think of a single precedent for this.

I don't even have the damn game, but I don't understand people going out of their way to defend 343 when they could really use the goodwill.

Exactly, goodwill. It's cool how COD does this. Builds the hype if anything.

 

[Bsigg12]

Watching some of the streamers on Twitch.tv and they're in Diamond rank......and they look like utter garbage.

The population isn't high enough yet for people to be shuffled into the tiers they'll really be at. Come Tuesday it'll balance out much better.

 

[TheOnlyMook]

I got early delivery and was excited to play, not really jealous.

It's maddening that a company who could barely get their previous game working would put effort into this type of measure.

And if 343 let people play early, everyone would cry out 'Hey no fair, they get a head start! 343 better reset everyone's ranks or else!'

No real winners either way

 

[mcrommert]

The skybox is underwater. The geometry on the layout shares similar assets to the rest of the game's UNSC/Human locations.

Look. 5 Human/UNSC structures in 5 different locations - 5 distinct design palettes with almost no assets shared between them.

[imghttp://www.hectormadrigal.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/halo_reach_map_boardwalk2.jpg][/img]

Isn't rocket science (well, maybe the last one is...)

this isn't a fair comparison. Reach used campaign money to make maps that would be in both campaign and multiplayer...of course the levels have more assets to work with

 

[Ramirez]

They are on Fathom too, but they seem pretty pointless. They just lower the platforms in the area in front of the spawn locations.

I haven't seen them on Fathom, but they weren't worthless on Eden. The 2 generators gave you alternate routes to get to Catwalk, midbridge, and nest. The one's outside allowed you to take out people hiding behind the center cover, which would be really useful when rockets are about to spawn.

Those Reach maps look different, but were by and large, complete fucking trash. I do not understand the hangup on visuals, if it plays good, who cares??

 

[VincentMatts]

Which cities are you referring to? New Mombasa looks like a lower-detail Plaza (and that's a pretty old town), and I can't really recall any other pre-343 cities.

In fact, I can only really point to Skyline as a non-prefab human structure post 343, off the top of my head. That's going to change in 5, obviously.



Eh. Did you play the beta? Because after spending some time on Eden and Empire, I could never confuse one for the other, or either for Fathom.

Im not saying id confuse them, im saying they all feel/look the same. Dont need 3 of them when they could have easily added some in different areas like in a sand area, or a snow area.

And yes i did play the beta and i didnt like the aesthetics then either.

Ive been trumping this horn for months now. I saw this problem as soon as i saw the maps the first time. But 343 like to do things the hard way. Screw it up first and THEN listen to the community.

 

[Nando13]

Anyone from West Europe (Spain, France) knows when the game unLockes? Monday evening?

 

[Captain Zyrain]

I got early delivery and was excited to play, not really jealous.

It's maddening that a company who could barely get their previous game working would put effort into this type of measure.

Maybe this is a result of the MCC issues? Lets them ramp up servers/etc at their pace to make sure they catch issues before they become widespread?

 

[Willectro]

And if 343 let people play early, everyone would cry out 'Hey no fair, they get a head start! 343 better reset everyone's ranks or else!'

No real winners either way

The multiplayer rank in Halo is about as arbitrary as not letting people playing a bit early.

 

[awesomegamername]

https://gaming.youtube.com/channel/UC2t2Eunam9Dw-RAsrpplfOA#tab=1

Streaming now.

Awesome, I am watching! How do you like youtube for streaming? Better than twitch?

 

[ArchedThunder]

Which cities are you referring to? New Mombasa looks like a lower-detail Plaza (and that's a pretty old town), and I can't really recall any other pre-343 cities.

In fact, I can only really point to Skyline as a non-prefab human structure post 343, off the top of my head. That's going to change in 5, obviously.

Eden, Empire and Plaza are all super busy looking with pipes and panels and indents and outdents and just heaps of unnecessary "detail" that only adds visual noise.

 

[mcrommert]

And if 343 let people play early, everyone would cry out 'Hey no fair, they get a head start! 343 better reset everyone's ranks or else!'

No real winners either way

I agree with you but there is actually only one playlist and it is called preview playlist so they are definitely resetting it

 

[Bread]

Damn just saw someone scroll through all the helmets you can unlock. So many choices!

 

[Poodlestrike]

Exactly why would a post war tech boom make the BR have a hideously curved sight and Jaundice yellow ammo counter, or the pelican look completely different with no added functionality, the shotgun look like a generic pile of crap, Chiefs same suit of armor from Halo 3 have a basketball skin undersuit, or the rocket launcher become even less advanced and look like a generic green tube that we have available in our militaries right now? There seems to be no practical use for any of these changes at all, they seem to be changed only because the 343 artists couldn't just swallow their damned pride. Also, in regards to the Halo universe never looking 500 years into the future. That's exactly my freaking point, 343 has taken away the bulky Starship Troopers/classic sci-ci inspired power armor design and replaced it with overdesigned Anime/Kamen Rider shite.

Well that's, like, your opinion, man.

As for the rest: the bulk getting cut down is justified by the tech advances. I think we've had this conversation before, actually. If the shields are doing the majority of the heavy lifting, it makes sense to prioritize mobility over armor plating (to a point). The basketball undersuit was a mistake, like I've said. I don't mind the green tube, but I don't really like it, so... guess you win that one, too? I'm not saying that there's no bad choices, but it's not like Bungie batted 100 either, and holding 343 to a ridiculous standard does nobody any good.

The skybox is underwater. The geometry on the layout shares similar assets to the rest of the game's UNSC/Human locations.

Look. 5 Human/UNSC structures in 5 different locations - 5 distinct design palettes with almost no assets shared between them.

[imghttp://www.hectormadrigal.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/halo_reach_map_boardwalk2.jpg][/img]

Isn't rocket science (well, maybe the last one is...)

Reach's maps were taken from the campaign, mostly. Not exactly a fair comparison

Eden, Empire and Plaza are all super busy looking with pipes and panels and indents and outdents and just heaps of unnecessary "detail" that only adds visual noise.

Empire, at least, isn't what I'd call "super busy looking.," but more to the point... Every bit of geometry represents a route, it's not there for shits and giggles. Haven't played Plaza yet, but Eden was the same way.

 

[Twilight Gap]

this isn't a fair comparison. Reach used campaign money to make maps that would be in both campaign and multiplayer...of course the levels have more assets to work with

Reach's maps were taken from the campaign, mostly. Not exactly a fair comparison

It's a perfectly valid comparison because it's not just Reach. There are plenty of maps in Halo 3 and Halo 2 that are Human/UNSC themed without homogeneous.

 

[Collateral22]

Translation

"I almost always can find someone to break street date for me and this is the first time a company has had the injustice to not serve me at the time of my choosing. Very disappointed 343"

lol the salt in that post. Gamestop ship it early, as do game ect when it's a bank holiday. My take on it is they don't have full faith in their servers, so don't want them to be flooded and have pre launch reports of bad servers ect.

 

[PetulantChild]

Well that's, like, your opinion, man.

As for the rest: the bulk getting cut down is justified by the tech advances. I think we've had this conversation before, actually. If the shields are doing the majority of the heavy lifting, it makes sense to prioritize mobility over armor plating (to a point). The basketball undersuit was a mistake, like I've said. I don't mind the green tube, but I don't really like it, so... guess you win that one, too? I'm not saying that there's no bad choices, but it's not like Bungie batted 100 either, and holding 343 to a ridiculous standard does nobody any good.

I'm not having ridiculous standards of 343, I expect them to be the "vanguards" of Halo that they so often claim to be. I had the exact same complaints when People Can Fly made Gears Of War Judgement and completely and utterly trashed the aesthetics and gameplay of that series, and if The Coalition does the Same with Gears 4 I'll give them the same amount of shit. I expect 343 to understand and improve Halo, not to completely and utterly trash the aesthetics because they don't like it. They didn't invent the universe, If they don't want to work on Halo, don't work at a company solely made to make Halo.

 

[ArchedThunder]

Empire, at least, isn't what I'd call "super busy looking.," but more to the point... Every bit of geometry represents a route, it's not there for shits and giggles. Haven't played Plaza yet, but Eden was the same way.

The maps do not need to be this busy.

There is way too much visual noise.

 

[Captain Zyrain]

I'm not having ridiculous standards of 343, I expect them to be the "vanguards" of Halo that they so often claim to be. I had the exact same complaints when People Can Fly made Gears Of War Judgement and completely and utterly trashed the aesthetics and gameplay of that series, and if The Coalition does the Same with Gears 4 I'll give them the same amount of shit. I expect 343 to understand and improve Halo, not to completely and utterly trash the aesthetics because they don't like it. They didn't invent the universe, If they don't want to work on Halo, don't work at a company solely made to make Halo.

I like the changes 343 has made. Does that make me wrong? Are you right?

 

[spootime]

I have to agree with what a lot of other posters are saying. All of the arena maps really do look the same. They almost remind me of forge maps in that they all have the exact same assets and aesthetic.

 

[Akai__]

I haven't seen them on Fathom, but they weren't worthless on Eden. The 2 generators gave you alternate routes to get to Catwalk, midbridge, and nest. The one's outside allowed you to take out people hiding behind the center cover, which would be really useful when rockets are about to spawn.

Those Reach maps look different, but were by and large, complete fucking trash. I do not understand the hangup on visuals, if it plays good, who cares??

Yeah, the ones on Eden make sense, but the ones on Fathom seem pretty poinless.

 

[vincent vega]

I have to agree with what a lot of other posters are saying. All of the arena maps really do look the same. They almost remind me of forge maps in that they all have the exact same assets and aesthetic.

This. It's like there are only 3 distinct maps in the game. Even truth/regret seem similar.

 

[TheOnlyMook]

I agree with you but there is actually only one playlist and it is called preview playlist so they are definitely resetting it

Well yeah I know this, I'm just generalizing 'knee-jerk internet rage'. I personally don't care either way, even though it'd probably be better for 343i to get more fans playing the game instead of popular streamers who either aren't great or are misinformed about features and are in turn misinforming people watching those streams.

Like I said, either way 343i is kind of in a rough situation

 

[PetulantChild]

I like the changes 343 has made. Does that make me wrong? Are you right?

Seeing as the changes were not needed, and that there has been massive backlash against redesigns of the Jackals, Elites, and guns like the Shotgun I would say your opinion is not one held by many in that regard.

 

[op_ivy]

Why I'd like more variety, the maps look great to me. Shrugs

 

[Twilight Gap]

I haven't seen them on Fathom, but they weren't worthless on Eden. The 2 generators gave you alternate routes to get to Catwalk, midbridge, and nest. The one's outside allowed you to take out people hiding behind the center cover, which would be really useful when rockets are about to spawn.

Those Reach maps look different, but were by and large, complete fucking trash. I do not understand the hangup on visuals, if it plays good, who cares??

A map's layout is independent of its visuals unless it has a theme heavily integrated into its design. In other words, a map with good visuals can play like crap and vice versa. Most of Halo 5's Arena maps actually don't integrate their theme into the map, with Fathom being an example; it could just as easily be located above water and the layout would not be affected. (If we want to call layouts into question, they don't excel there either. I get that it's easy to settle for mediocrity after the last few Halo games though.)

Visuals are important for orientation and readability. Not only are the design of these maps homogeneous with one another, but their palette is largely distilled within themselves. Regret is the exception, as it integrates terrain into its design.

It's one thing to not understand, but I wouldn't be so quick to dismiss it. It goes far beyond "pretty colors" and it's feedback designers ought to be aware of.

 

[LegalEagleMike]

Seeing as the changes were not needed, and that there has been massive backlash against redesigns of the Jackals, Elites, and guns like the Shotgun I would say your opinion is not one held by many in that regard.

Massive seems like an overstatement.

 

[Ramirez]

Yeah, the ones on Eden make sense, but the ones on Fathom seem pretty poinless.

Got any pics or videos of them??